Homemade Star Crunch Recipe

With gooey homemade caramel, creamy milk chocolate, and crunchy rice, these no-bake cookies are as satisfying as a candy bar, but way easier to make. Just boil up a pot of sugar water until it turns thick and golden like clover honey, then add some chilled cream and simmer a few minutes more. Once it's cool, stir in a handful of chopped milk chocolate and some Rice Krispies, and you're done! The hardest part is simply waiting for the molten "batter" to set.

Why It Works

Due to its shallow depth, this caramel is easier to judge by color than by temperature, so aim for a light amber hue.

Chilled cream shocks the caramel to halt cooking.

A final cooking temperature of 245°F gives the caramel a thick and chewy texture.

The dairy in milk chocolate gives the cookies a fudge-like texture.

Yield:Makes 15 cookies

Active time:30 minutes

Total time:About 2 hours

Ingredients

4 ounces water (1/2 cup; 115g)

7 ounces sugar (1 cup; 200g)

1/2 teaspoon (2g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume or use the same weight

10 ounces heavy cream (1 1/4 cup; 280g), cold

3 ounces milk chocolate (2/3 cup; 85g), finely chopped (see note)

1 1/2 ounces Rice Krispies (1 1/2 cups; 45g)

Directions

1.

Combine water, sugar, and salt in a 3-quart stainless steel saucier over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until sugar dissolves and syrup is bubbling hard, about 2 minutes. Stop stirring and simmer until syrup turns pale gold, like clover honey, roughly 8 minutes. Meanwhile, measure out cream so it will be ready to add at a moment's notice.

2.

When syrup turns pale gold, add cream and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula, until the foam subsides and the boiling caramel seems more molten than foamy, about 6 minutes. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until caramel registers 245°F on a digital thermometer, about 5 minutes more.

3.

Immediately transfer caramel to a heat-resistant bowl and allow to cool until it registers 140°F on a digital thermometer, about 40 minutes. Stir in milk chocolate until fully melted, then fold in rice. Divide into about 15 one-ounce (2-tablespoon) portions and arrange on a parchment-lined half sheet pan or cutting board, then flatten into disks with the palm of your hand. Let stand at room temperature until fully set, about 1 hour, and transfer to an airtight container with a sheet of parchment between each layer. Star Crunch will keep up to a week at room temperature, or a month if refrigerated.

Special Equipment

Notes

This recipe cannot be prepared with dark chocolate, which will give the cookies a dry and crumbly texture. Update: thanks to reader feedback, I've discovered Cadbury Dairy Milk cannot be used in this recipe. As an eating chocolate, rather than one meant for baking, it contains added palm oil for richness. Unfortunately, it's more fat than the caramel can absorb, causing the emulsion to break.